Christian-Muslim Relations The huge numbers of Muslims in Sokoto Diocese made Msgr. Lawton concerned about what approach could be made to them. A visit by the then Apostolic Delegate Sergio Pignedoli in 1961 encouraged Msgr. Lawton to plan something concrete, since Archbishop Pignedoli found no one in Nigeria informed about the Islamic situation and he asked the Dominicans if they could provide men for this work. Msgr. Lawton thereupon turned to the Cairo Dominicans for help and advice. In 1963 Fr. Jomier made a survey visit, the first of many visits, and recommended that two men be trained who could work as a team.
Accordingly, in January 1964 Msgr. Lawton spoke to the Dominican students in Dubuque about this and other needs. Joseph Kenny was recently ordained, finishing his studies and ready for an assignment. He came to Nigeria in November 1964, learned Hausa, gained some practical experience, and in 1966 went to study at IPEA (Institut Pontifical d'Etudes Arabes). After a year in Rome he spent a full year learning Arabic in Tunisia, after which he completed a Doctorate in Arabic and Islamic Studies in Edinburgh in 1970. In the meantime Jim Kelly had done a master's degree in African Studies with emphasis on Islamic Law at the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. Demands for pastoral work and the xenophobia of Sokoto Muslims allowed only limited practical contacts with Muslims there, although Kenny continued his research and write in this area, especially after he joined the University of Ibadan in 1979.
Igba Vishigh studied Arabic and Islam in Rome, 1980-83, and began a doctoral programme at the University of Jos in 1986, where he became a lecturer in 1991 until his death in 2000. He made considerable impact by his numerous writings, talks, contacts and personal friendships with Muslims.
In 1996 Segun Taiwo began Arabic studies at PISAI, Rome, while in the same year Fredric Mvumbi, a Dominican student from Congo (Zaire), did an M. A. in Islam under Joseph Kenny at the University of Ibadan. He continued there as a lecturer while working on his doctorate. In 1999 - 2000 he did first year of Arabic language at Dar Comboni in Cairo. Ordained a priest in Kinshasa in September 2000, he passed his Ph.D. exam in October 2000. After a second year in Cairo he is to return to Ibadan to succeed Kenny at U. I.
Foreign Missions
After finishing his doctorate in Washington D.C., Chris Egbulem stayed on to work, teaching but more importantly assisting in programmes for Afro-Americans throughout the United States. In 1994 a formal contract was made between the Nigerian Province and the diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to supply three priests; these, however, are not living in community, but separately.
In 1995 an agreement was concluded with the diocese of Cape Coast, South Africa, to take a parish in Port Elizabeth; Chukwubikem Okpechi led the foundation. This foundation was closed in 1999. Then in 1995 John Nwanze began working for the diocese of Seattle. He was joined by Dan Chiezey in 1998.
Inter-African cooperation in some way is related to the heading of foreign missions. Numerous students from the Province of Nigeria have done their theology in Kinshasa, while Ibadan has welcomed numerous student brothers from Zaire/ Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and elsewhere. In the same context, Joseph Kenny has been teaching every two years at Les Facultés Catholiques in Kinshasa, residing at the community in Limete, where he has also given some in-house lectures.
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